Ex-mayor has no regrets as Surrey Police take over from RCMP after six-year saga

Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum says he has no regrets, six years after proposing that the B.C. municipality dump the RCMP in favour of a municipal police force, a move that took a major step forward on Friday. McCallum leaves provincial court after being found not guilty of public mischief, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, November 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Surrey Police Service took over from the RCMP and became the city's force of jurisdiction Friday, after a six-year saga set in motion by former mayor Doug McCallum.

Along the way, there were court challenges, a change of municipal government and accusations of bullying, but McCallum says he has no regrets about the troubled transition for the community southeast of Vancouver.

He only wishes it could have happened sooner.

"We did it because we felt that we wanted to have a lot more local control in Surrey," he said.

"And also that we wanted sort of a new type of policing, which is proactive and working in the community .… And that's happened a lot in the last six years as we slowly transition," he said.

Surrey Police Service officers have been working alongside the RCMP since 2021. Now, the municipal force will have the leadership role, with the Mounties offering support until the transition is complete.

McCallum proposed a municipal force in 2018, during the first council meeting of his second stint as mayor of the city of about 600,000 people.

But in 2022, after the first officers had already been deployed, McCallum lost re-election to Brenda Locke, who promised to reverse the transition, landing her in very public conflicts with former public safety minister Mike Farnworth, who was in favour of the transfer.

Locke accused Farnworth of bullying and misogyny.

In the end, Farnworth used his authority to force the city to move forward with the Surrey Police Service, and the municipality lost a bid to have the decision reversed by the B.C. Supreme Court.

Norm Lipinski, chief constable of the Surrey Police Service, told a police board meeting this week that the complete transition away from the Mounties will take another year or two.

The Surrey police will be responsible for the neighbourhoods of Whalley and Newton and more than 20 citywide programs, representing, Lipinski said, more than 50 per cent of the overall workload in the city.

The RCMP will continue to cover the rest of Surrey while more municipal officers are hired and trained to take over.

Lipinski said his officers plan to expand their coverage area to South Surrey next year.

He told the meeting that police buildings and headquarters as well as key contact numbers will stay the same. Videos posted online show signs with the new municipal force branding have started going up.

"I am very, very confident that public safety will not be jeopardized. We will smoothly transition over to the SPS," he said.

McCallum said the community has already noticed changes in the years the municipal officers have been working, including what he says are more officers patrolling the streets.

"It's all about getting out in our community, and talking to our community, and that makes our community feel a lot safer," he said.

A formal change-of-command ceremony is expected next year, but officials including Lipinski, Solicitor General Garry Begg, Locke and RCMP assistant commissioner John Brewer are holding a news conference Friday afternoon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2024.